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Democratic political candidates can skip this weekend's July 4th parades. A new Harvard University study finds that July 4th parades energize only Republicans, turn kids into Republicans, and help to boost the GOP turnout of adults on Election Day."Fourth of July celebrations in the United States shape the nation's political landscape by forming beliefs and increasing participation, primarily in favor of the Republican Party," said the report from Harvard.
Yeah, I saw that, and I'm thinking that it illustrates in clear terms how politics and nationalism/patriotism are intertwined. I think back to civilizations such as the ancient Romans, who would frequently appeal to the wisdom of their predecessors ("back in the olden days"). For them, governing according to the principles of their forefathers was a good thing, no doubt because they consider them to be wise, prudent, and just. In modern America, the fact that only one party appeals to the Founding Fathers is dangerous, because it means the other party is appealing to something else. One would think that all parties should try to associate themselves with the Founding Fathers, the Fourth of July, and things patriotic.
Yeah, I saw that, and I'm thinking that it illustrates in clear terms how politics and nationalism/patriotism are intertwined.
I don't really understand what you mean here, unless you explained it further in your post. I don't think this has or should have anything to do with politics. All this shows me anyway is there are people who are proud of their country and other people, mainly Progressive Liberals, who hate it. Some of the comments I've sen on this go like, if not 4th of July parades, then what do proggies consider patriotic? Gay pride parades?? :-[
I just think that the right tries to appeal much more to the patriotic principles associated with the Founding Fathers. Essentially, the right looks backward to understand the present day and to understand the course that America should take into the future. The left does not tend to do this. Frequently you will hear the left pointing out all the "evils" of the American past, making history to be a roadmap of what to avoid, rather than something which can be looked at for guidance. I think it's awfully hard to hold patriotism in high esteem in America while despising America's past, since so many "true patriots" are historical figures. So in my opinion, patriotism is something that is linked much more with the political right than the political left.
Totally agree, but the reason I said it's not political is because it goes beyond that. This is just how the Left thinks.I also think the Left doesn't just dislike America and America's past, they want us to pay for our past "sins" too. I can no longer associate nor do I want anything to do with Leftists and Progressives. They disgust me too much. (However, I'd love to play Harvard in a rugby match. And who cares if we win or lose, I just want to slam some of them down)
That the study came out of that bastion of progressivism Harvard is no surprise.I think Phid made a very cogent point when he mentioned the Romans and their looking to the actions of their ancestors for guidance. Of course, ancestor worship was central to Roman society, they even maintained shrnes to prominent ancestors in their homes.Ski, you also make a good point about the Left's despite for America. i have never understood how the Left can despise the nation and hsitory that gave them the ability and ffreedom to disseminate their poisonous views so freely. in many countries they would be imprisoned or worse for their dissen yet the classically Liberal West get s no credit for providing them the freedoms they abuse so happily.
An undocumented suspicion — do you think there is something rotten in the hiring and student selection processes at Harvard and other ivies?They used to have quotas vs. Jews, and if memory serves, the school was as sympathetic to Hitler in the 30s as the ives are today to Ahminidjad and hostile to conservatives.Elite schools, hmmmm? High IQs, emotional morons.
Elite schools, hmmmm? High IQs, emotional morons.
I love that line, I will probably plagiarize it on my blog, if you will let me. It could be used to describe many liberals, not just those at Ivy league schools.
I love that line, I will probably plagiarize it on my blog, if you will let me. It could be used to describe many liberals, not just those at Ivy league schools.
Be my guest -- ;D
Be my guest -- ;D
You even have a Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=2209052640&topic=17251&perpage=30&post_index=31&start=7&post_id=138673
You even have a Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=2209052640&topic=17251&perpage=30&post_index=31&start=7&post_id=138673 [/quote}Amusing and interesting comments, but the autistic and the "idiot" savants are different from collective temper tantrums against conservative speakers and clubs, ROTC, military recruiting, opinions in school papers, and anything else that diverges from leftist dogma. It is a legacy of the Viet Nam war era. When I was at U.C. Berkely, 1949-54, the only signs of emotional moronics excluding rooting sections of course, were disputes between Stalinists and Trotskyites, the only collective violence panty raids.
